A spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called Reuters and claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

The militant group also warned that the Lahore attack was the start of a new campaign against government departments.

“You are on our target across the country,” it said in a statement.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar also claimed responsibility for an Easter Day bombing in Lahore last year that killed more than 70 people in a public park.

Security

Security in Pakistan has vastly improved in recent years, but Islamist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State still pose a threat and have carried out mass attacks.

Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the attacks will not weaken Pakistan’s resolve in the fight against militancy.

“We have fought this fight against the terrorists among us, and will continue to fight it until we liberate our people of this cancer, and avenge those who have laid down their lives for us,“ he said in a statement.